Blog

With Fiscal Year 2025 starting, we wanted to take the opportunity to thank three of our board members who are rolling off: Terrence Spence, Tony Schwallie, and Mary Eaves. 

Terrence Spence  

Terrence joined the Family & Children’s Place Board in 2015 and served as Board Chair in FY19 and FY20 leading FCP through the following advancements: 

• Strategic Plan  

• FCP bid for and was awarded the GLHS 5-year grant 

• FCP offices opened at the West End YMCA 

• Holiday flex-pay was approved 

• Helped develop policies during COVID 

• Brought more focus on diversity on the Board 

Terrence shared his expertise in several Board Committees including the Personnel Sub-Committee, generously providing invaluable input regarding FCP’s employee benefits and polices. Most recently Terrence has served as Co-Chair of the Board Development Committee along with Co-Chair Mary Eaves since FY20.  They have been a dynamic duo co-chairing the committee and cultivating quite a few new Board Members. 

He is a member of FCP’s 1883 giving society and for many years has been a table host at our annual fundraising event. 

In FY23 Terrence was instrumental in crafting an edit to the Board By-Laws which stated, “Due to extenuating circumstances, a Director may be re-elected for up to one additional 3-year term upon the completion of three 3-year terms.”  

Tony Schwallie  

Tony joined Family & Children’s Place in 2015 after being nominated by the Board Development Committee which was at that time lead by John Hamilton. 

During his three 3-year terms, he chaired the Personnel Sub-Committee that is responsible for completing the CEO’s annual evaluation. This was a bit of an onerous task each year, including working with the Board members to complete the evaluation tool, and then to gather all responses to summarize for the Board review as part of their CEO oversight responsibilities.  

Tony also was Chair of FCP’s Audit Committee for several years, working closely with VP of Finance on the agency wide external audit process.  

Other Board Committees Tony has served on include the Development, Finance, and Program Committees.  

Mary Eaves  

Mary joined the Family Place Board in 2005, serving three 3-year terms through 2014. She served as Board Chair in FY09 and helped lead the merger of Family Place with Children First thus creating Family & Children’s Place.  Mary rejoined the Family & Children’s Place Board in FY15 and continued service through FY24. 

Mary also supported the $10.2 million campaign to build the campus and has been instrumental in FCP’s fundraising and awareness raising efforts. She is a member of FCP’s 1883 giving society and for many years has been a table host at our annual fundraising event. 

Since 2020, Mary has Co-Chaired the Board Development Committee along with Co-Chair Terrence Spence since FY20.  They have been a dynamic duo co-chairing the committee and cultivating quite a few new Board Members. Mary has also served on the Program, Finance, and Fundraising Committees 

She has been an active volunteer throughout her time on the Board – volunteering to provide child supervision so that parents could attend therapy sessions. 

Mary attends as many School-Based events as possible and endeared herself with our School-Based children and parents. 

During her tenure, Mary has generously provided invaluable input regarding FCP’s employee benefits and polices including defined benefit plan processes 

In FY23, Mary was instrumental in crafting an edit to the Board By-Laws to allow the Board to invite members in their third term to be e re-elected for up to one additional 3-year term.”   

We are grateful for the time and commitment these three individuals have dedicated to our agency. They have been with us through challenging times, but also rewarding times. We look forward to seeing what lies next for them!